Let?s be honest about this. Pitcher Jason Grimsley would have been on no one?s short list ? heck, no one?s list period! ? for baseball immortality prior to the raid on his home that turned up a couple of “kits” for self-administering human growth hormone (HGH).
With a career record of 42-58 with four saves and an ERA of 4.77, his next stop would have been on the baseball-card circuit or perhaps as a minor-league coach. Now, there?s an online poll (www.illegalchuck.com), where you can vote on who should play Grimsley in the HGH scandal movie, should they make one. DiCaprio is too young, Costner is too old, and Damon ? Matt, not Johnny ? is too short. That?s a tough one.
While you?re at it, perhaps you can suggest someone to play David Segui, who Grimsley queried about HGH usage in 2004. Segui, who retired following an injury-plagued four seasons with the Orioles (in which he averaged 48 games a season for about $7 million per), had a doctor?s prescription for human growth hormone, which he said the Orioles knew about.
The club said it didn?t know until just before his contract expired. I never knew that a full grown person could have HGH deficiency, but doctors say it?s possible. Perhaps that?s the true reason behind his constant aches and pains and frequent trips to the DL. But what of the other redacted names from Grimsley?s statement to the feds? Are there other Orioles under all that black ink?
The ballclub certainly hopes not. But given its run of misfortune recently, there?s a lot of breath-holding going on. Waiting for the other cleat to drop is more than any baseball PR guy should have to endure so soon after the Palmeiro affair of 2005.
Rafael?s unforgettable performance on Capitol Hill, with his signature finger-wag at the politicians, is a bit of video we?ve all seen too many times. The end result was avoidable, had Palmeiro simply walked away from the game after notching his 3,000th hit.
I suspect Jason Grimsley used steroids and human growth hormone for one reason: He was prone to injury, and those things might speed up the healing process. Did they make him a better pitcher? I can?t answer that. But if outing Grimsley leads to a cleaner game, his legacy will have some value after all. If the Orioles are stained by it, it?s unfair and unfortunate.
OOPS: I know the Reds didn?t win the 1970 World Series vs. the Orioles. In Wednesday?s column, I meant to say that the Reds went to the Series four years after trading Frank Robinson, and that the trade didn?t kill the franchise. My apologies.
Listen to Phil Wood every Saturday at 11 a.m. on ESPN Radio 1300.
